In short, the key point of this blog post is about the “threshold” of your own lawyer. Is he or she too overly concerned about what others think? Is your lawyer too much a people-pleaser? Simply a salesman? Or, on the other hand, is your lawyer so blind to others that he is a sloppy, shoot-from-the-hip gunslinger?
My related basketball discussion below helps illustrate the point that we generally each have our own threshold level. Make sure you think about this when you choose a lawyer.
Now, more about this threshold. I listen frequently to podcasts. They provide an enjoyable, easy, brief glimpse at some of the most cutting edge and progressive thinkers. These podcasts help expand my understanding of where our world is, and where it is heading. I find this extremely exciting, for lack of a better word. And, informative in ways that I try to adapt to my personal and lawyering life.
Now, what about basketball? A recent This American Life podcast, called “Choosing Wrong”, includes a striking discussion about the underhand free-throw in basketball. It includes a great interview with former NBA star Rick Barry, who holds the best free-throw percentage in NBA history. He used an underhand free-throw style. Click here for the podcast.
But, the broader point of this podcast goes beyond basketball. The podcast addresses the notion of each person’s own threshold. That is, in general terms, how many other people does it take for a person to cave-in and follow the crowd, contrary to their own personal preference?
In other words, how confident and independent is a person and what is that person’s threshold for sticking to his or her own ideas, choices, preferences, etc.?
This podcast, better than any other method I have heard, poignantly lays this question fundamentally before the listener.
James M. Kane Legal Blog 